Actor Ben Affleck (left) arrives at a hearing with Senator Patrick Leahy, centre, and Senator Lindsey Graham, in Washington, D.C., U.S., 26 March 2015.

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Lights, Camera, Activism!

Professor Natasha Lindstaedt explores how governments can tap on celebrity activism to spotlight critical issues and the role that celebrities can play when it comes to effective political communication.

Celebrities and Politics

In the last 10 years, Ben Affleck’s humanitarian organisation, Eastern Congo Initiative (ECI) has given more than US$ 10.5m in grants to support local Congolese organisations that were working to assist sustainable development projects. Some of these projects include training 150 female cocoa farmers to read and learn other vital economic skills, and providing grants to local coffee cooperatives. Affleck’s star power has not only attracted impressive financial support to the organisation but also helped the ECI gain bi-partisan support from members of the U.S. Congress, including Representative Adam Smith and Senator Lindsey Graham to sponsor bills and legislation to aid the eastern Congo.

The success of this celebrity partnership is grounded in Affleck having spent time educating himself on the issues, regularly visiting the country, writing on the topic (citing local knowledge and connections and using statistical data from the United Nations), and genuinely showing a long-term interest and commitment to the project¹.

But the marriage between celebrities and politics is not without its controversies. While celebrities bring glitz, glamour, and media attention, this lies in stark contrast to the technocratic day-to-day needs of governing effectively. Celebrities are often accused of not understanding the causes they advocate for and caring more about how they are perceived. These assertions have led to criticism of celebrity advocates. But survey research (looking at the U.S.), has revealed that celebrities have more credibility than politicians.²

In spite of some negative stereotypes of celebrity activists, celebrities can serve as potential partners for governments in delivering important social goals. Celebrities have financial resources, relationships with the wealthy and powerful, public exposure — all of which are important currencies in promoting change and drawing attention to socio-political issues.³ We focus on how governments can work with celebrities to achieve sound objectives.

Why Celebrities May Get Involved in Politics

For most celebrities, their interest in politics is driven by two factors. First, they may be genuinely interested in a political issue or cause. Second, they recognise the benefits of being admired and see a need to shape a positive personal image. Being involved in a good cause helps celebrities distinguish themselves from tabloid celebutantes and assists them in being taken more seriously. Overall, it helps to construct a powerful personal brand that yields positive benefits for them professionally.

As celebrities are no longer part of studio systems, stars are free to voice their opinion, adopt pet causes and policy initiatives, without the fear of losing their jobs for doing so.⁵ This leverage and autonomy that they now have in the entertainment industry to shape their own image has led to an increase in celebrity activism.⁶

The internet has also made it easier for celebrities to inform themselves on causes that are important to them, and quickly appear competent on these issues. Celebrity activism is so widespread that this has spawned a new industry where experts strategically assist in matching charitable organisations with the appropriate celebrity.

Mediatisation of Society and the Rise of Celebrity Activists

Celebrities have become even more important in highlighting political and social issues due to the ongoing mediatisation of society. The growing use of social media has increased the power and influence of celebrities, helping them reach a much wider audience. Celebrities have a platform of millions of followers on Instagram and Twitter that may be hanging on to their every word. Kim Kardashian for example, has spent much of her public life being ridiculed for being a materialistic reality star. In spite of this persona, with 254 million followers on Instagram, she has also successfully advocated for the clemency of 31 people who faced life imprisonment for non-violent crimes, most notably, Alice Johnson who had a life sentence for a first-time drug offence.

Kim Kardashian West and Alice Johnson, United States, 13 June 2018.

Furthermore, celebrities have become more powerful due to changes in mainstream media. Much of contemporary journalism focuses on celebrity news in order to attract greater viewership.⁷ Additionally, the public has become increasingly frustrated with traditional news sources, and has sought out soft news and alternative sources of news that tend to report more on celebrities.⁸ This gives celebrities an even bigger audience, which serves to highlight celebrity causes more widely as well.

The Power of Spotlight

In terms of spotlighting issues and raising money, examples abound of celebrities making a positive impact, with some even possessing the gravitas to attract widespread attention for important causes.⁹ Due to their excellent networking capabilities and status, celebrities can facilitate accelerated fundraising and collaboration with corporate sponsors.

Billionaire mogul Oprah Winfrey has not only donated upwards of US$ 50m a year to education, health care, and advocacy for women and children, she also lobbied for the 1993 National Child Protection Act, also known as the Oprah Bill, which established a database of convicted child abusers. Actress Elizabeth Taylor raised millions for AIDS charities, serving as one of the first advocates for AIDS funding, starting with the AIDS Project Los Angeles. U.S. basketball star Lebron James has donated and raised millions for children’s and education charities through his Lebron James Family Foundation.

Oprah Winfrey speaks during The Dignity of Women Conversation at The University of Johannesburg, South Africa, 29 November 2018.

American football player Colin Kaepernick gained global attention for kneeling during the national anthem at American football games to spotlight systemic injustices against the African American community in the criminal justice system and protest against police brutality. Other noted African American celebrities — and most notably athletes — eventually followed suit and global attention turned to this ongoing problem. U.S. actor Mark Ruffalo has become involved in advocacy for clean water and clean energy for all. He has lobbied the U.S. Congress to support bills to increase infrastructure to ensure clean water and highlighted the issue of PFAS industrial chemicals polluting waters in North Carolina.

Colin Kaepernick kneels for the anthem prior to the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Levi Stadium, California, U.S., 23 October 2016.

Authenticity Matters

That said, many of these examples of celebrity activism are high-profile stars drawn from Europe and North America, which reinforces the image that the global south somehow needs to be saved by the west. But celebrities from the global south have played an important role in advocating on behalf of policies and organisations that they care about. Much of the effectiveness of celebrities centres on their authenticity and expertise, and not just their connections and charisma.

Some of the most effective advocates offer a closer connection to what they are supporting. Bestselling author Ishmael Beah suffered trauma from being a child soldier in Sierra Leone. He has since worked with the UN and created his own foundation to give a voice to children scarred by the violence in his home country of Sierra Leone. Beah has also worked to raise awareness about the devastating impact of Ebola on local communities and to raise funds for education. Somali model Waris Dirie, herself a victim of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) has advocated against FGM and started her own foundation to offer treatment and care for victims.

There are many other examples of celebrities from the global south working with international and local organisations to promote causes facing the developing world. Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour for instance, has been a noted activist, working both with the UN and through his own foundation to support microfinance, healthcare and internet cafes to connect Senegalese people around the world. Camila Pitanga is a Brazilian actress who has long worked hard to spotlight fighting climate change, child labour, slave labour and supporting the rights of the indigenous communities and gender equality. Globally-acclaimed Nigerian musician Femi Kuti has worked with UNICEF to draw attention to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa and to support children’s rights. Indian tennis star Sania Mirza has worked with NGOs and the UN to fight against female infanticide and support gender quality in India. Chinese actress Hai Qing has used her celebrity platform to promote gender equality, and to end discrimination and violence against women in society.

Sania Mirza speaks during a function of her announcement as UN Women’s Goodwill Ambassador for South Asia on 25 November 2014 in New Delhi, India.

Indian actor Aamir Khan has been fighting climate change and drought management on several fronts — one, by lobbying the Indian government and the European Parliament, and two, by working with his foundation to help communicate, equip and train farmers about how to tackle drought in villages in Maharashtra, India. The Indian government had been trying to prepare rural farmers to fight drought in the region for years but with little success. Khan and his foundation have been much more effective in teaching farmers, using well-known indigenous techniques of water management. The foundation’s success can be attributed to Khan’s credibility and authenticity in delivering these messages.

How Governments can Partner with Celebrity Activists

Governments can work with celebrities in many different areas. Celebrities can connect with their audiences in ways that politicians may not be able to. Since celebrities have been constantly employed to bring prestige to brands, governments can harness their charisma to get citizens to support government initiatives. Celebrities can be employed in innovative ways by governments, and may be particularly effective in encouraging consumer-driven initiatives.

Celebrities that are the most effective appeal to a broad audience, are educated on the issue and are willing to be personally invested in the issue.¹⁰ Celebrities bring a great deal of attention to an issue, not just to citizens but to elected officials as well (since 1980, the number of celebrities testifying in the U.S. Congress has doubled).

When a celebrity presides at a congressional testimony, this encourages congressmen to show up and can foster more initiatives for funding. For example, when actor Michael J. Fox testified about his experience with Parkinson’s disease, this led to a US$ 275m increase in funding for research.¹¹ Mr. Fox was considered to be knowledgeable on the issue, had widespread appeal and was personally invested, having been diagnosed with Parkinson’s himself.

Michael J. Fox performs on stage at A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Cure Parkinson’s benefitting The Michael J. Fox Foundation, U.S., 16 November 2019.

When governments need to communicate vital information, packaging information as entertainment increases the likelihood that the information will be consumed. In these situations, having celebrities convey the message may be helpful. Less important than a celebrity’s actual credentials and expertise, is the consumer’s perceptions of the celebrity’s expertise.¹² It’s also important that there is a high perceived fit between the celebrity’s image and what they are endorsing or talking about, as this contributes to credibility.¹³

Celebrities may be most effective when working with governments to inform the public to adopt behaviours on issues that are non-controversial, appear non-partisan, and where the messaging is clear and simple. Governments can work with celebrities to persuade citizens to adopt effective behaviour. While state and international organisations require experts in crafting smart policies and directives, the implementation process requires societal buy-in or compliance, which in turn necessitates strong state-society relations and high levels of trust.

For governments that find themselves facing the challenge of low levels of societal trust, star power can be a useful tool to communicate directives and be a medium through which valuable information may be offered.

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In the case of the Ebola virus in West Africa in 2014, the use of traditional burials was considered to be a major source of Ebola transmission, with as many as 2.5 new cases resulting from unsafe burial practices. Because the region had faced brutal civil wars, levels of trust in the government were low and it was very challenging to communicate the importance of changing burial practices to stem the spread of the virus. There was a need to turn to an individual who commanded respect and legitimacy in the community. In the case of Sierra Leone, the message was most successfully communicated by noted religious and traditional leaders. But being effective in political communication often depends on the legitimacy of the messenger.¹⁴ In some cases, celebrities may be more effective communicators.

Celebrities have also had some success in the area of diplomacy, particularly in the sports arena. Beyond the cases of ping-pong diplomacy between China and the U.S. during the early 1970s, and pin-down diplomacy between Iranian and American wrestlers in the 1990s, sports can be used as a vehicle for the easing of tensions.

Global superstar Yao Ming has been an advocate of sports diplomacy to improve U.S.-Chinese relations and to highlight similar interests. Through music, reggae star Bob Marley addressed the growing conflict between warring factions in Jamaica. Marley and a host of other notable reggae acts held the One Love Concert in 1978 to ease tension and violence in Jamaica. In both these examples of Yao Ming and Bob Marley, we see globally-renowned superstars with a huge domestic and international fanbase who appeal to cross-cutting cleavages across societies. They both appear to be authentic, have huge charismatic appeal, and are invested in their causes.

Chinese Table Tennis Association president Liu Guoliang (third from left), Chinese Basketball Association president Yao Ming (centre), and head coach of Beijing Royal Fighters Stephon Marbury (second from right), attend an activity in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Ping-Pong diplomacy between China and the United States in Beijing, China, 24 April 2021.

Political Communication

For the most part, the success of the celebrity in politics lies mostly in their abilities in political communication.¹⁵ Much of the small literature on celebrities and politics has shown that celebrities have limited influence on changing actual government policies.¹⁶

However, there are lessons to be learned about how governments can work with celebrities, particularly those who are considered authentic, knowledgeable, charismatic and well-respected. This is a symbiotic relationship as there is prestige involved for celebrities in working on important causes. In addition to being able to raise attention to issues and bring people together, celebrities can help persuade and change behaviour when the messaging is simple and when the messenger is considered to be legitimate and authentic.

For governments that find themselves facing the challenge of low levels of societal trust, star power can be a useful tool to communicate directives and be a medium through which valuable information may be offered. In doing so, the spotlight can be cast on pressing issues that truly need immediate attention.

Endnotes

1. Richey, L.A., 2015. Introduction: Celebrity humanitarianism and North–South relations–politics, place and power (pp. 1-24). Routledge.
2. Harvey, M., 2017. Celebrity influence: politics, persuasion, and issue-based advocacy. University Press of Kansas.
3. 16.Richey, L.A. and Brockington, D., 2020. Celebrity humanitarianism: Using tropes of engagement to understand North/South relations. Perspectives on Politics, 18(1), pp.43-59.
4,6. Drezner, D.W., 2007. Foreign policy goes glam. The National Interest, (92), pp.22-28.
5. Wheeler, M., 2013. Celebrity politics. Polity.
7. Hopkins, S., 2018. UN celebrity ‘It’girls as public relations-ised humanitarianism. International Communication Gazette, 80(3), pp.273-292.
8,10,11. Jampolsky, J.A., 2012. Activism is the New Black-Demonstrating the Benefits of International Celebrity Activism through James Cameron’s Campaign against the Belo Monte Dam. Colo. J. Int’l Envtl. L. & Pol’y, 23, p.227.
9. Richey, L.A. and Ponte, S., 2008. Better (Red)™ than Dead? Celebrities, consumption and international aid. Third world quarterly, 29(4), pp.711-729.
12,13. Keel, A. and Nataraajan, R., 2012. Celebrity endorsements and beyond: New avenues for celebrity branding. Psychology & marketing, 29(9), pp.690-703.
14. Lyons, P., Winters, M., Zeebari, Z., Schmidt-Hellerau, K., Sengeh, P., Jalloh, M.B., Jalloh, M.F. and Nordenstedt, H., 2021. Engaging religious leaders to promote safe burial practices during the 2014–2016 Ebola virus disease outbreak, Sierra Leone. Bulletin of the World Health Organisation, 99(4), p.271.
15. Street, J., 2012. Do celebrity politics and celebrity politicians matter?. The British journal of politics and international relations, 14(3), pp.346-356.

Dr Natasha Lindstaedt

Dr Natasha Lindstaedt is a Professor of Government at the University of Essex, where she also serves as the Faculty Dean for Education in the Social Sciences. Dr Lindstaedt’s research focuses on authoritarian regimes, human security, state failure and good governance, and she has published several books on these topics including “Failed States and Institutional Decay and most recently, Human Security in Disease and Disaster.” Dr Lindstaedt also currently consults for the United Nations Economic and Social Commission of Western Asia (UNESCWA) on governance in the Arab region, and has consulted for the European Union External Action Service and IDEA International on issues of institution building and governance. She is also a frequent analyst for CNN and the BBC, and regularly contributes to the Conversation.

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